VAR’S SPOT ON AS REF U-TURN SINKS KOREA
SOUTH KOREA foiled a Swedish plot to uncover their secrets at a pre-tournament training camp – but they could not hide from the spy cameras yesterday.
Substitute Kim Min-Woo’s rash 63rd-minute lunge on Viktor Claesson was missed by Salvadorian referee Joel Aguilar.
But the VAR official 250 miles away in Moscow did not need many of the 33 angles provided to him by TV to decide it was a stonewall penalty.
Aguilar reviewed the incident on the pitch-side monitor and changed his mind, awarding Sweden a spot-kick.
And skipper Andreas Granqvist stepped up to send Cho Hyan-woon the wrong way and perhaps prompt a ripple of concern of an early exit among the Germany squad.
Sweden boss Janne Andersson said: “I have questioned VAR, but I’m glad we had it today because it was a clear penalty.
“What worries me is I don’t think we should need VAR for decisions as certain as that.
“The referee and the assistant were in a good position to see it and if we are then having to wait around for a decision as crystal clear as that to be made then it’s a concern.
“OK, they missed it and VAR worked. But it meant Granqvist had to wait a long time to take the penalty and in those circumstances he did very well to score.”
Sweden meet Germany in Sochi on Saturday, and the world champions will have very little wriggle room following their defeat by Mexico.
South Korea have now won just five of their 32 World Cup games, and coach Shin Tae-Yong admitted: “Losing has put us in a difficult position to go through.”